3 to be 4

Back in 2003 I compared the Patriots to the 80's Giants and 70's Dolphins.
After they won it in 2004 I thought they were up there with the 90's Cowboys.
After their wins at Pittsburgh and Atlanta last year it occured to me they were this generations 60's Packers. Last week brought that to mind to.
If they win it all this year the commentators will be talking about the 70's Steelers. But beyond those dynasties, I have larger dreams for the Patriots.


When last year ended, I was excited about the idea of Light and Koppen coming back and rejoining an OL that gained a ton of experience without them. I thought the OL had a chance to be awesome, and that would fix the running game and help Brady.
I also was excited about the secondary and thought it would be a strength.
losing Branch and Givens threw everything off for me, however, and I kind of expected maybe a 12-4 season, but an early exit in the playoffs.

What this team has that makes it potentially GREAT is the strength of the Offensive line and the Defensive line. When your lines are great, when you build from the lines out, you will always be a contender, especially when you add a great QB.

this is the formula the Parcells/Belichick/Crennel/Coughlin/Groh/Erhardt/Weis NY Giants used and its what Belichick built into the strong 1994 Cleveland Browns team. And he finally has it here.

Their only weakness was LB depth and the WR's. But now you see, when Caldwell and Gaffney are playing like this, they can beat anybody. And even if it doesnt happen in 2006, they have 2 1st round picks coming up.

The Patriots not only have a chance to equal what the Steelers accomplished with their 4 titles in 6 years, they are getting to the point where we can think of the long term dynasties that Cowboys (1966 thru 1983) and the 49ers (1981-1998) were. And I remember Kraft saying in the mid 90's the 49ers model is what he was going for.

Since 1994, in those 13 seasons they have 9 playoff berths, 7 division titles, 4 AFC Titles, 3 Championships, and soon that could be 9-7-5-4. And counting.

Last week made me think the Cowboy team I hated growing up. Year after year, you always knew Landry, Staubach, and the Cowboys would be around at the end. Even when they didnt win it all, a bad year for them was 10-4 and a loss in the conference final.

long term greatness. I can see it happening, its happening now, as we are approaching the short term legacy of the Steel Curtain.

Amazing.

BelichickFan

Looking forward to asking Ian to change your Username to 4 to be 5 ?

3 to be 4

Hey, i never thought of that!!! That will be my first task if/when the Patriots win the Super Bowl.

BoTown

I was going to say that this is bad karma, but I guess it's okay as fans to discuss it. The players, not so much.

4 in 6 would be great. Last time that's happened, the Steelers of the '70s. At that point they would be 1 behind the Cowboys, 49ers, and Steelers on the all-time list.

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3 to be 4

Thats why i wont guarantee a win this year, but to talk long term I think is reasonable.

other milestones that could be accomplished.

if they make the SB they will be tied with Denver and Pittsburgh for second behind Dallas (8) with 6 SB appearances.

if they win the SB they not only tie the Steelers 4 in 6, but Belichick ties Noll, Brady ties Bradshaw and Montana.

mgteich

We have been talking about the dynasty of this decade for years. The decade started in the 2000 season and will go through the 2009 season, a dynasty of the decade.

patsfan55

i know i know
lets jus wait a few weeks ok? (knockin on wood right now)

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“My favorite ring? I've always said, you know, I always said the next one. The next one is the best,” Brady says.

DarrylS

If they loose today, not that I expect it, will they still be considered to be a very good, if not great team? Does dynasty only exist only in the context of a Superbowl, we have won something like 5 AFC East championships in this decade. We are something like 12-1 in playoff games.

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

onegameatatime

Going back to the SB in 97 (96-97 season), the Pats went to 4 SBs in 9 years (97-05) and went a respectable 3-1, considering we were big underdogs in 2 of the games.

I believe only San Fran has been to 4 SBs in 9 years (4-0) -- not the Steelers or even Cowboys.

5 in 11 years would be a first (SF went to 5 over 15 years).

I'd love to see a breakdown, but while our wins in 03 and 04 were 3-pt wins, that may be the most remarkable 2 season run considering the level of competition, and that in 04, they held the #1 offense to 3 points and scored 41 on the #1 defense.

Now we look to the future -- as long as there is Brady, there will be playoffs.

3 to be 4

In 2004 I believe they were the first team to defeat 3 teams in the playoffs that won at least 13 games in the regular season.

And in 2003 werent they the first team to have 10 wins over teams with at least 10 wins?

34-4. a 21 game winning streak. Id say that was an awesome stretch that was hard to fully appreciate at the time.